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Friday, March 11, 2011

The “State Security” Line

By Zuheir Kseibati

This commentary was published in al-Hayat on 10/03/2011

Why would Colonel Gaddafi be concerned about Israel’s security in the face of “chaos,” if Al-Qaeda were to gain control over Libya? Why are the Americans and Europeans reluctant and why do Obama, Sarkozy, Cameron and Merkel stutter whenever they are asked about the available means to stop the massacres in the Jamahiriya of blood?

Why is Netanyahu concerned – or pretending to be– about the revolutions that are being won with the weapon of democracy in the Arab world, thus brandishing the Iranian “scarecrow?” Why is Ehud Barak in the meantime threatening with a war which Israel might be “forced” to wage if Washington does not enhance its “superiority” over the Arabs with $20 billion worth of sophisticated weaponry?

The Colonel is threatening with the rifle of Osama Ben Laden while Netanyahu is bestowing “compassion” upon the Arab youth in regard to the Iranian regional influence.

Why is Al-Bashir afraid of the word “rape” when uttered by women in Omdurman?

Who is stirring the murky water of political confessionalism in Lebanon to give us the impression that the demand is to immediately abolish it, at least out of shame, considering that the winds of revolutions and uprisings are too powerful to resist?

Who is behind the explosion waves in Algeria to preempt the attempts to extend the protests? And who is threatening the sun of Tahrir Square with the darkness of strife between the Muslims and the Copts to undermine the Egyptian January 25 revolution?

It was said there was no fifth or sixth line, but rather thugs and state security apparatuses which allied with those who were harmed by the revolution and the toppling of Hosni Mubarak’s regime. However, what is more dangerous is the beginning of arduous attempts to shake the Tahrir Square generation’s trust in the army which protected it well, by showing that the armed forces were reluctant and impotent before the symptoms of sectarian strife to protect this Square.

All of these images are emerging in regard to the Arab labor whose imminent end is difficult to imagine, despite the peaceful character of the birth of the new Tunisia and the new Egypt, which the Jamahiriya of blood is trying to disfigure by accusing it of collaborating with “terrorists” in Libya.

And while the comparison between the January 25 revolution and the Benghazi uprising is unlikely for known reasons, namely this uprising’s confrontation of massacres and insane exterminations between Benghazi and Tripoli, what was seen in Egypt during the last few days reveals the non-surrender of the remnants of the former regime, despite the fact that the High Council of the Armed Forces embraced the goals of the revolution. It has also become clear that the “counter revolution” is no longer a mere fear, in light of the introduction of lethal weapons to undermine the alliance between the army and the youth. Sectarian tensions are no longer individual incidents that can be forgotten. If this is not the case, how would one explain the occurrence of sectarian killings in three regions on a dark night, claiming the lives of dozens of Muslims and Christians? From Helwan to the suburb of Cairo, who is introducing the so-called Salafis to pour oil on the fire of the concerns of the Copts vis-à-vis the era of the revolution and the exaggeration of the popular and partisan strength of the Islamists?

The insistence on building a mosque over the site of a church that was burned down is definitely dubious, although it clearly reveals the ignorance of Islam and its tolerance by those who came up with the idea. It may also be safe to assume that the ones currently managing Egypt’s affairs and the affairs of its people, know that those who were harmed by the revolution will try to besiege it with a reputation of impotence at the level of security – even if on Tahrir square – and the inability to protect the Copts and their rights as citizens.

The transformation of the burning of the church into a sectarian fire to disfigure the image, dreams and goals of the January 25 revolution, serves the “state security” line.

But tomorrow is a day of “national unity” in Egypt. It will start on Tahrir Square and we hope it will besiege the line of sectarianism which is no longer enough to curse it while disregarding its ashes and bleakness. It is no longer enough – in the era of the revolution – to complain about those burning churches in the name of Islam and mosques on false claims.

The insistence of the latter on upholding religion is only matched by the Israelis’ insistence on upholding the newly-founded Arab democracies and the Colonel’s concerns over Israel from the “chaos of Al-Qaeda.”

About Me

I graduated from the French University in Beirut (St Joseph) specialising in Political and Economic Sciences. I started my working life in 1973 as a reporter and journalist for the pan-Arab magazine “Al-Hawadess” in Lebanon later becoming its Washington, D.C. correspondent. I subsequently moved to London in 1979 joining “Al-Majallah” magazine as its Deputy Managing Editor. In 1984 joined “Assayad” magazine in London initially as its Managing Editor and later as Editor-in-Chief. Following this, in 1990 I joined “Al-Wasat” magazine (part of the Dar-Al-Hayat Group) in London as a Managing Editor. In 2011 I became the Editor-In-Chief of Miraat el-Khaleej (Gulf Mirror). In July 2012 I became the Chairman of The Board of Asswak Al-Arab Publishing Ltd in UK and the Editor In Chief of its first Publication "Asswak Al-Arab" Magazine (Arab Markets Magazine) (www.asswak-alarab.com).

I have already authored five books. The first “The Tears of the Horizon” is a love story. The second “The Winter of Discontent in The Gulf” (1991) focuses on the first Gulf war sparked by Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait. His third book is entitled “Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: From Balfour Promise to Bush Declaration: The Complications and the Road to a Lasting Peace” (March 2008). The fourth book is titled “How Iran Plans to Fight America and Dominate the Middle East” (October 2008) And the fifth and the most recent is titled "JIHAD'S NEW HEARTLANDS: Why The West Has Failed To Contain Islamic Fundamentalism" (May 2011).

Furthermore, I wrote the memoirs of national security advisor to US President Ronald Reagan, Mr Robert McFarlane, serializing them in “Al-Wasat” magazine over 14 episodes in 1992.

Over the years, I have interviewed and met several world leaders such as American President Bill Clinton, British Prime Minister Margaret Thacher, Late King Hassan II of Morocco, Late King Hussein of Jordan,Tunisian President Zein El-Abedine Bin Ali, Lybian Leader Moammar Al-Quadhafi,President Amine Gemayel of Lebanon,late Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, Late Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat, Haitian President Jean Claude Duvalier, Late United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan,Algerian President Shazli Bin Jdid, Jamaican Prime Minister Edward Siyagha and more...